Transcript Clues to W*s

Clues to W’s
Unlocking and connecting standards to
the historical narrative.
Anthony Fitzpatrick
The American Institute for History
Education
Catch my Campaign
Dr. Yohuru Williams & Anthony
Fitzpatrick
What are Clues to W’s?
• Clues to W’s is an activity for your classroom
that will allow students to practice using
context clues and research skills to connect
individuals, groups, events, places and other
things in state standards to the larger
historical narrative.
We are vexed with a problem • We have to find a way to teach the state
standards, but the resources available to us
rarely match up – causing a situation where
there is some great history that we have to try
to find a way to teach AND link it into the
national narrative.
• It’s not only a problem for teachers, so let’s
use our classrooms and students to tackle this
problem.
How to use Clues to
W’s in your
classroom.
There is planning and
investment on the part of the
teacher in the beginning of
the year. But through careful
planning – students will
becoming active learners and
historical detectives.
Exposing students to the 5 w’s
has always been a
cornerstone in our
classrooms. Let’s have the
W’s leap off of the page and
allow students to immerse
themselves into history.
Step 1
• Identify a broad theme
or topic that you’ll be
teaching in class
– The First Contact
– Comparing Native
American Tribes
– Colonial Life
– The French and Indian
War
– The Declaration of
Independence
– American Revolution
Step 2
• Take out your state
standards.
• Identify names, places,
events, dates from the
standards that correlate
to the broad topic or
theme.
Are you “limited” by your standards?
• Of course not!
– Those names, dates and
places that don’t fit
naturally into your
lessons are great with
this strategy.
– How about those little
boxes of information in
your textbook? Artists,
books, inventions etc.
Step 3
• For everything you pull
out – find a who, what
when, where, why.
– (for people – link the w’s
to the overall event you
that they are linked with
in the standards)
– For “Why?” – indicate
this persons SPEC
significance to local,
state and national
history
Step 4
• Locate and reproduce a
source that links the
topic to the broad
theme:
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Newspaper article
Textbook excerpt
Political cartoon
Movie/ video
Literature
image
Step 5
• Create a heuristic clue
the will allow students
to unlock the answers
to the “W’s”
– The “Why?” happens
later.
– You can supply some of
the “W’s” to the
students to provide
some scaffolding.
Step 6
• Students will then
utilize the worksheet to
unlock the clues.
• The correct answers
serve as the passcode.
• The teacher will check
their work and then
give them access to the
primary source
document
Step 7
• Students will use the
primary source
document to link the
singular event to the
larger historical
narrative of local, state,
national, and world
themes.
Let’s walk through an example and then we
can try our hand at this.
• The ocean blue became a major trade route
between old and new when this explorer
sought to bring honor to The Bull and his wife
and attain the 3 G’s.
• Look into your “crystal ball” and help his three
ships find his “paniola”.
• Crack the code and use the document to
discuss the SPEC significance of this topic.
The Documents:
• A chart representing the Colombian Exchange.
• The route map for Christopher Columbus’s
voyage.
• The primary source document.
The Columbian Exchange is the larger
issue.
Your turn!
• I’ve included
just a bit of
help from your
standards.
• Pick one and
let’s practice
developing
clues!!
California State Standards
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5.1 Students describe the major pre-Columbian settlements, including the cliff dwellers and
pueblo people of the desert Southwest, the American Indians of the Pacific Northwest, the
nomadic nations of the Great Plains, and the woodland peoples east of the Mississippi River.
Describe how geography and climate influenced the way various nations lived and adjusted to the
natural environment, including locations of villages, the distinct structures that they built, and how
they obtained food, clothing, tools, and utensils.
Describe their varied customs and folklore traditions.
Explain their varied economies and systems of government.
5.2 Students trace the routes of early explorers and describe the early explorations of the
Americas.
Describe the entrepreneurial characteristics of early explorers (e.g., Christopher Columbus, Francisco
Vásquez de Coronado) and the technological developments that made sea exploration by latitude
and longitude possible (e.g., compass, sextant, astrolabe, seaworthy ships, chronometers,
gunpowder).
Explain the aims, obstacles, and accomplishments of the explorers, sponsors, and leaders of key
European expeditions and the reasons Europeans chose to explore and colonize the world (e.g., the
Spanish Reconquista, the Protestant Reformation, the Counter Reformation).
Trace the routes of the major land explorers of the United States, the distances traveled by
explorers, and the Atlantic trade routes that linked Africa, the West Indies, the British colonies, and
Europe.
Locate on maps of North and South America land claimed by Spain, France, England, Portugal, the
Netherlands, Sweden, and Russia.
Think about what you already
teach. . .
• Take a brief moment to
consider your
standards.
• Think about the
curriculum you teach.
• What figures, places,
events can you do this
with?
• Any documents you can
think of?
Let’s 2.0 it with 21st Century Skills
• How can we use
technology and
collaboration to
efficiently and
effectively solve
problems and produce
a dynamite finished
product?
Collaboration
• Split up the heuristic
clues and assign a piece
to one member of a
group. Each student is
responsible for their
piece.
• They come together
and unlock the primary
source document and
research the
significance together.
Further Collaboration
• Have students create a
Clue for W assignment
for each other. They
check the progress of
the other student’s
work.
• **This works better
after you’ve modeled it.
2.0
• Have students use
moodle or a wiki page
to leave the clues.
Students can submit
their answers via the
same process.
• The primary source can
be password protected.
• What else can we do?
The Finished Product
• What do we want our students to do with this
information?
• How will they present the SPEC significance?
• Standard Essay, Biography, Newspaper
account, political cartoon.
• Anything else?
Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
• Are there any ways this
activity can be
modified?
• What elements would
you use or not use?
• Could you enhance this
or make it more gradelevel appropriate?
• Any other scaffolding
methods?
Thank You!
• Look in your state
standards and use them
to activate student
learning!
• [email protected]
BUT WAIT . . . THERE’S MORE!!
With A Trace
Connecting local, state, national and
world history by finding treasures in
your
Backyard and Big History
Anthony Fitzpatrick
Vice President of Professional Development Services
The American Institute for History Education
Catch my Campaign
Dr. Yohuru Williams & Anthony
Fitzpatrick
Oh to relax amongst the treasures that
surround us . . .
Clue’s to W’s goes Live!
• While similar to Clue’s to W’s in that we’ll be
using heuristic clues to unlock key points and
we’ll connect the singular event to it’s SPEC
significance:
• With a Trace takes you and your students off
of the page and into the history that
surrounds them!
Investigate the world around you.
• We are surrounded by
history in our daily and
recreational lives.
• Why not take the things
we encounter and begin
to notice it and use it’s
existence as a gateway
into our history
classrooms.
What Might We Find?
• The SPECters of the
past.
– YES – we’re going to
explore the world to find
what history left behind
and connect it to what
we’re already teaching in
the classroom!!!
Examples:
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Statues
Bridge names
Markers
Memorials
Street names
Artifacts in museums
Buildings
Doing this in your classroom
• Step 1: Find one of the examples above.
• Step 2: Research its history to find its SPEC
significance to local, state, national, or world
history. (ideally there would be a link to a
larger era or period in history beyond local
history)
• Step 3: Create a heuristic clue that is similar
to Clue’s for W’s (but now geographic location
can play a bigger role!)
Example:
• As Old Saint John walked through a rich port
colony; he noticed a woman following in the
footsteps of Clara Barton on four wheels.
• Although there was no fuhrer over the
soldiers she helped – her life was inspiring to
many who have strolled by here waters.
• Who was this inspiration and what was the
SPEC significance of the place and
organization in history.
Chavin – Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Text on the plaque:
• ALMOST TOTALLY PARALIZED SHE EXCELLED
ACADEMICALLY, PERFORMED ATHETICALLY AND
IN HER PRIME SWAM 40 POOL LAPS
DAILY. DURING W.W. II, SHE MET HER LOVE IN
THIS HUT, THEN A MILITARY CANTEEN, SERVING
AS A VOLUNTEER RED CROSS HOSTESS FROM HER
WHEELCHAIR. THEY WERE MARRIED AND HE
NECESSARILY BECAME HER LIFELONG LIFEGUARD,
PROTECTOR AND LOVER. MAY CHAVIN’S BEAUTY,
INTELLIGENCE AND COURAGE BE AN
INSPIRATIONAL LIGHT TO ALL. DONATED BY
CHAVIN’S WIDOWER – 1983
Significance
• American Red Cross – the founder was Clara
Barton.
• During WWII – Puerto Rico was still a US
Colony. It provides a wonderful way to remind
students of a past unit (sometimes called the
age of American Imperialism)
Your Turn!
• Using this
powerpoint and the
document; create a
clue for your
students!
• I have included
images from your
standards and
location and
around the
country!
• N 33° 14.337 W 117° 01.916
• 11S E 497025 N 3677777
• Long Description:
Elizabeth Jane (Jennie) Cloud Wimmer was involved in

the single most important event in California history,
the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24,
1848. Her husband Peter and mill foreman James
Marshall found a nugget in the American River and
gave it to Jennie, a cook and housekeeper, to test in a
kettle of soap. The next day she declared that the
nugget was gold. The famed California gold rush began.
With James Marshall, she is credited as the codiscoverer of California gold. An account by Captain
John Sutter refers to the gem as the Wimmer nugget.
• This plaque is placed in cooperation with the Valley
Center Historical Society, the County of San Diego, and
the ancient and honorable order of E Clampus Vitus,
Squibob Chapter, October 5, 2003.
• N 32° 45.549 W 117° 11.775
• 11S E 481617 N 3624603
• Long Description:
The plaque reads:

"LA PLAYA TRAIL
JEDEDIAH STRONG SMITH
PATHFINDER OF THE SIERRAS
HERE COMPLETED THE FIRST TRAIL FROM
THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC JAN. 1827
ERECTED BY
SAN DIEGO CHAPTER D.A.R. 1945"
New Jersey
Oklahoma
Texas
Missouri
Implementation part 2
• Use the clue as a warm-up, do now,
anticipatory set or closure activity in your
class. It serves as a natural tie in to an
upcoming lesson.
• The key is to make sure there is an explanation
using SPEC to find SPECifics and why this bit of
history left behind is SPECial.
More ways to do this . . .
• If you have a student that
goes on vacation or
spends a weekend in a
special place – Have them
go on a search for these
things and create a virtual
scavenger hunt for their
classmates. Or have
them do the research and
you create the clue.
• They can ditch the book
and use their camera and
ipod as learning tools!
21st Century Skills!
• Take a virtual field trip
or have your students
follow a scavenger hunt
when your on a real
trip.
• With GPS technology
they can truly create
some great scavenger
hunts for future classes
or their classmates
Use the most influential media out there . .
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• You (tube)
–Teachertube!
• i (pod)
• Wiki sites, moodle
Extension
• Search for primary
sources to validate the
significance of the
monument or marker.
– This isn’t always easy –
so I’d use this judiciously
as an extension.
[email protected]